


Accidental Side Quest

by Etirdoyn (Nyodrite)



Series: those who wander [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Self-Indulgent, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-07-03 22:57:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15828648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nyodrite/pseuds/Etirdoyn
Summary: “Well,” the professor seemed to flounder for a moment before saying, “Since you’re here already and seemed prepared to set out, I don’t suppose you would mind doing me a favor? I have a parcel of pokéballs waiting at the Poké Mart in Viridian City, I was intending to give them out to all the starting trainers today but the courier Pidgey seemed to have gotten sick.”“So you want me to go and get them?” I prompted, internally wondering if Icouldget there and back so quickly. Video games and anime, after all, didnothelp much for judging distances when it was actuallyreal- for all I knew, the average time it took to travel Route One was a week.“If you would?” Professor Oak said, nodding to an out of the way corner of his lab. “You can use my old bike, it shouldn’t take more then an hour or two if you hurry.”“...sure thing, Professor.”





	Accidental Side Quest

“You’re certainly early, Maria.”

I shrugged, following the professor inside and into his lab. I took a moment to eye the three pokéballs one display but ultimately focused on the professor - I wasn’t, after all, there for them. “You said I’d have to register Kawan, since she isn’t one of the starters you’re giving out, and I wasn’t sure how long that’d take so I decided to come early.”

“Ah, yes, well I apologize for making it seem like it’d take a while - the process is actually quite simple.” Professor Oak admitted a bit sheepishly, pointing to a little ‘bowl’ beside one of the computers. “All you have to do is place Kawan’s pokéball there and the computer will do the rest! It shouldn’t take more then a minute or so.”

“Oh.” I blinked, then shrugged and placed the ball where it needed to be. “I could have slept in a bit, then.”

“Well,” the professor seemed to flounder for a moment before saying, “Since you’re here already and seemed prepared to set out, I don’t suppose you would mind doing me a favor? I have a parcel of pokéballs waiting at the Poké Mart in Viridian City, I was intending to give them out to all the starting trainers today but the courier Pidgey seemed to have gotten sick.”

“So you want me to go and get them?” I prompted, internally wondering if I _could_ get there and back so quickly. Video games and anime, after all, did _not_ help much for judging distances when it was actually _real_ \- for all I knew, the average time it took to travel Route One was a week.

“If you would?” Professor Oak said, nodding to an out of the way corner of his lab. “You can use my old bike, it shouldn’t take more then an hour or two if you hurry.”

“...sure thing, Professor.” I told him.

It wasn’t that I was that altruistic or that I _wasn’t_ annoyed at the thought of having to backtrack - I was _very_ annoyed that I was signing up to go through Route One three times in one day - but I figured it would pay to remain in the good books of the professor. He hadn’t, after all, given me my Pokédex yet or, with it, my Trainer’s License.

“Mind if I leave my stuff here?” I asked, dragging out the bike and almost laughed when I saw it.

Of all the bikes I expected, somehow a bright red, _banana seat_ bike wasn’t one of them. If nothing else, the tires were still full and nothing seemed rusted.

“Yes, of course, just set it on a table so it won’t get stepped on or misplaced.” I did so, folding up my cloak - which I thought of more as a hooded cape but my mom always made a face at that so, _cloak_ \- and setting my bag on it before turning to find the professor in front of me, offering me a ball. “Here is your - _official_ \- starter, Ms. Hunter. I should be done with the finishing touches on the Pokédex by the time you’re back.”

He then wandered off, muttering about nephews and last minute information dumps which I took as my que to leave.

I stopped by my house briefly, poking my head in to tell my dad - who was grumpily staring down the coffee maker - that I’d be back in a few hours to properly say goodbye and, most importantly, have breakfast. Then I was off, opting not to bug anyone _else_ before six in the morning.

“One good thing about leaving so early is that no one seems to be awake, huh?” I mused aloud, dearly missing _Pandora_ in that moment.

The silence stayed for most of the trip, until a loud _“Spearow!”_ seemed to signal to the rest of the world that it was time to start the day. From there I heard a few Rattata chittering in the grass, though I saw none, along with Pidgey, who I _did_ occasionally see when they fluttered town from a tree or went to a new spot to seek out worms, and even a few distant Spearow.

It was peaceful, in a way that I hadn’t ever known in a life dominated by cars.

“Hello,” I greeted the person behind the counter the moment I entered the store. I wasn’t all too afraid of leaving the bike, there never seemed to be much in the way of criminals beyond Team Rocket in the Pokémon World and even then they were after _pokémon_. Besides, the store had plenty of windows, I’d _see_ someone taking the bike. “Professor Oak asked me to pick up a parcel for him?”

“Maria Hunter?” They - for the life of me, I couldn’t tell if it was a man or woman so I played it say - asked even as they ducked to search out something under the counter. “Yes, the professor called ahead and said you’d be picking it up for him - here it is.”

The parcel itself reminded me of bento you’d see in an anime, a cloth-covered box container. Apparently, the balls were in their shrunken form and placed in little divots cut into sheets of plastic that were layered upon one another. The set up, honestly, reminded me a bit of chocolate boxes that had repeating layers of chocolate. Of course, once outside I realized that there was a problem with leaving my bag behind when I tried to mount the bike only to find I had nowhere to _put_ the parcel.

_Oh for fucks’ sake-_ I eventually growled internally, shoving the cloth knot into my mouth and biting down. _I am never doing someone a favor ever again._

**Author's Note:**

> This is born from the vaguest of ideas of a sioc in the pokemon world ~~(in the anime verse _and_ the game verse)~~ and I am nothing if not weak and self-indulgent.
> 
> Thus, this was born! Ta- _da~_


End file.
